BOX SCORE

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (12-13, 6-9 SSC) defeated the Lynn Fighting Knights (13-14, 6-9 SSC), 61-59, in a wild finish Wednesday in Boca Raton, Fla. The game was won on two technical free throws by senior Teddy Tassy (Port-au-Prince, Haiti).

Tassy led NSU with 18 points scored on 6-for-11 shooting. Iran Hollis (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) came off the bench to bring down a game-high seven rebounds and drain his only field goal attempt of the game. Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth, Australia) and Tim Traversa  (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) both shot 50 percent in the contest and scored nine and 10 points, respectively.

The Sharks got off to a strong start as Sean Mullan (Jr., Mangerton, Australia) scored the first five points of the game. The Sharks led for the majority of the first half, and at one point led by as much as eight points. However, Lynn finished the half with all the momentum and took a four-point lead into the break The Fighting Knights ended the half on a 9-0 run. Mullan had eight points in the opening period.

The Sharks came out of the break dominant as they outscored the opposition, 18-6, over the first nine minutes of the second half. Tassy and Huntington combined to score 13 of the Sharks’ first 18 points of the second half. As the game started to even out it would also slow down in pace. Over the next five minutes, the Sharks would only outscore the Fighting Knights, 6-5.

The Sharks led by seven points with under two minutes left, but the game was far from over. The Fighting Knights brought their deficit down to two points with 35 seconds left. Traversa and Lynn’s Jeremy Lampkin traded buckets, giving NSU the ball with 12 seconds left and a two-point lead. Due to the lack of fouls in the game, the Fighting Knights were forced to foul four times before they could send NSU to the line.

By the time the Sharks made their way to the line, the clock had been cut in half. After missing a free throw, Lynn’s Josh Garcia was fouled on a desperation 3-point attempt with six tenths of a second remaining. Garcia made the first two free throws and stepped up to win the game at the line. Out of nowhere, Garcia is called for a technical foul which sent Tassy to the line. Tassy, the Sunshine State Conference’s best free throw shooter, made two free throws to win the game in the wildest ending to an NSU basketball game this year.

Garcia final free throw went from a game-winner to an irrelevant final line in the stats. Lynn was called for a lane violation before the final buzzer sounded.

The Sharks will play their final regular season game of the year on Saturday at home against Rollins at 7:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.

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